Pathways to Wealth in the Internet Age 2024

But it's also really scary how many people fail to recognize the opportunities that are sitting right in front of them. And here's the thing: you can either start taking advantage of these opportunities, or you can just ignore them and be left behind, continuing to live in the infinitely turning hamster wheel where you never have enough and you're always struggling to exist. The choice is yours.

But in this article, I'm going to show you exactly how you can start taking advantage of these opportunities so that you too can live a life of purpose, freedom, and financial prosperity. Now, before you do this, it's first really important that you understand how we got here in the first place.

Our existence as humans is kind of broken up into three different stages, and each stage brought new opportunities that only a small percentage of humans took advantage of to become affluent. For the vast majority of our existence, we've lived largely unprosperous and nomadic lifestyles consisting of hunting and foraging for food.

The affluent people during this time were typically the people who were the strongest physically because they could hunt for food and go into war with other tribes and capture various goods. This was the first stage that lasted for the majority of our existence.

The second stage saw gradual but very small prosperity. In this stage, we adopted agriculture, which led to a more secure and promising way of supplying food, allowing us to focus more on building established towns and cities.

Humans became a lot more civilized, and so the affluent people during this time weren't really the physically strong people like how it was in the first stage. In this stage, it became more about mental strength, being able to negotiate, make deals, be creative, persistent, intelligent, and determined.

Fast forward to the third stage, which is where we're all living right now. This stage can be best characterized by an unprecedented sustained level of economic growth. In this stage, the quality of our lives went from improving slowly and gradually to exploding exponentially, particularly within the last 200 years after the Industrial Revolution.

So, if in the first stage of our existence, only the physically strong people were affluent, and in the second stage, typically the mentally strong people were affluent, who exactly are the affluent in the third stage? What can you start doing as soon as today to count yourself amongst these people?

Well, my theory is that the wealthiest people today are people who are technologically the strongest. Think about all the wealthiest people that you know today. All of them have become affluent by either taking advantage of technology or by creating some type of technological advancement.

Now, I'm not saying that you have to go and create the next Tesla or Microsoft. But what I am saying is that thanks to technology, it's literally nothing for a young 16-year-old to start an online business where they source products from China to then sell those products to someone in Utah.

Or for a 10-year-old to become a multi-millionaire by simply playing with toys because they've got millions of people from all around the world who can go to a website called YouTube to watch their videos.

Or for a 30-year-old who's able to quit their job because they learned a new skill online that can make them way more money than they could ever make at their day job. Nowadays, the people who are becoming affluent are either creating new technology or they're taking advantage of existing technology. And that's something that I believe every single person reading this article can start doing today taking advantage of technology.

So, the question becomes, how exactly can you start taking advantage of technology to become affluent? Well, I want to suggest a blueprint for you to follow, a guideline for taking yourself from where you currently are to where you want to be, which is to become affluent.

Essentially, with this blueprint, there are three different levels that you have to get through, including one bonus level, which we'll talk about at the very end. The goal is to get through all of these levels, and by the time you reach the third level, you'll be considered affluent.

There are very specific steps and things that you have to start doing in your life if you want to progress through these levels. And by the way, when I say affluent, I mean financial freedom, but also time freedom and location freedom. You can live your life exactly the way you want. There are no limitations on what you can buy, where you can go, and what you can do.

Most people, when they're first starting out on their journey to becoming affluent, start out in the first level, which we'll call the Washington level. In this level, where most people are, you have a decent five-figure job, but you really don't have any useful skills at all.

You basically have no money saved up, and you more than likely have no definitive plan for your future. The people in this level are kind of just floating through life with no real purpose. They waste their time playing video games, binge-watching shows on Netflix, or just scrolling through TikTok. They never dedicate time toward achieving their goals.

If you want to upgrade your life to the second level, then the next step is actually really simple. What you're going to do is keep your day job, but instead of wasting your time playing video games or just scrolling through TikTok, you're going to use your free time toward learning a new skill and surrounding yourself with better information. You can do this by watching YouTube videos, listening to podcasts, or getting a free trial to some type of e-learning platform. You can also read or start listening to self-help audiobooks.

I talk a lot about investing in yourself, and on my websites, I shared about the experiences that helped me finally find the path toward financial freedom. I owe part of that to my time spent listening to audiobooks and podcasts. Thanks to Audible, you guys can start investing in yourself too. Whether it's listening while you drive, work out, or do chores, Audible truly offers an incredible selection of audiobooks.

I recommend starting out with one of my all-time favorites, "The Richest Man in Babylon." Based in the Babylonian Empire, the author shares seven simple lessons on how to keep more of what you earn, get out of debt, and put your money to work. This was the first audiobook that truly changed the way that I saw money. I also love that Audible not only has books but podcasts too.

Audible is the home of storytelling, and when you become a member, you'll get access to the latest titles from every genre. You can choose one title a month to keep forever from the entire catalog, including new releases and bestsellers. Right now, new members get 30 days completely free.

Now, your main goal in this level, Level 1, is just to start making yourself a more valuable person, and ideally, you want to start earning some additional money on the side in addition to your main job. You can do this either by starting a new part-time endeavor, which is what my entire channel is about, or you can use the new skills that you've learned to start some type of new secondary enterprise.

But either way, by taking action, not making excuses, and just getting yourself out there and making things happen in your life, you should be able to level up to the second level, which we'll call the Hamilton level.

In this level, you still have a standard 9-5 job, but you've started earning additional income through a side project or some type of side business. Because you're earning more money, you're able to save more money, preferably somewhere between three to ten thousand dollars.

Unlike in the first level where you didn't have any useful skills, in this level, you've started learning new skills. These skills will become insanely useful because in this level, it's time to start putting those skills to use to help level up your income.

So, basically in this level, you'll be taking any of the money that you've saved up, as well as all of the additional income that you've started earning from your side project or side business, and you're going to use that money to start creating new opportunities for yourself.

My recommendation is that you focus on some type of internet-based endeavor. Remember, the people who are getting rich in this day and age are the people who are taking advantage of existing technology.

My entire channel is dedicated to talking about different online businesses, but to keep things simple, I'm going to recommend that you start one of three different businesses.

The first is a skill-based service. This could be doing things like web development, copywriting, video editing, or any number of services that are in extremely high demand because of the internet age that we live in. For example, let's say you decided to do web development.

You could go to websites like Upwork and Fiverr to start finding clients who will pay you for your services. You could also go the route of starting an agency. If you started a web development agency, companies would come to you to help them build a website and get their website ranked on Google, and you could outsource different parts of the business to other people.

The second business type is a media-focused endeavor. This one's probably the most obvious. It includes making YouTube videos, TikToks, becoming an Instagram influencer, or starting a blog. The world of social media is massive, and there's an entire industry behind even a simple Instagram Reel that's only 20 seconds long.

People are making tens of thousands, and in many cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars per month by providing value through content, whether it's educational or entertainment content.

The third business type is a marketing venture. This involves selling products, either physical or digital, over the internet. You can explore options like dropshipping, opening an Etsy store, or any sales-based business that allows you to sell products online. The opportunities in this internet age are endless.

Once you've started a venture and have begun making more money, you'll level up to the third level, called the Jackson level. In this level, you start to implement these skills to create new opportunities for yourself. Your income starts to increase relatively quickly, and you have more disposable income. You can use this money to start expanding your business, either by reinvesting it or by scaling what's already working.

Other than that, in this level, you continue doing what's already working and just turn up the notch a little bit. You scale and keep expanding. And when you do this, eventually, you'll reach level four, which is the Benjamin level.

Not every person wants or needs to reach level four. Technically, at level three, you're already affluent. You have financial freedom, time freedom, and location freedom. But for those who desire more, the Benjamin level is where only the top one percent of people exist.

These individuals have seven-figure incomes, multiple streams of income, including multiple businesses, performing assets, and often people working for them or partnering with them to make even more money. Level three and level four are almost the same because in level three, you're already making really good money.

You can take that money and start using it to either start new businesses or buy performing assets like stocks and real estate. But at level four, you're making ridiculously high amounts of money and can scale your wealth even faster.

You're amazing, and I appreciate you for being here. You can accomplish anything you want in this life. Remember, there are no limitations on what you can achieve. I believe in you, and as always, I'll see you again very soon. Take care.